55 - IWAMOTO KONKAN: A FINE SHIBUICHI ‘KANKO-DORI’ TSUBA

IWAMOTO KONKAN: A FINE SHIBUICHI ‘KANKO-DORI’ TSUBA Lineage of Iwamoto Konkan (1744-1801), signed Iwamoto Konkan with kakihan Japan, late 18 th to early 19 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of tatemarugata form, with one kozuka hitsu-ana, the migakiji ground stippled and pierced, finely decorated in gold and iro-e takazogan with a rooster perched on a drum overgrown with vines. The reverse with further vines and a finely rendered Chinese queue of braided hair. Signed IWAMOTO KONKAN with kakihan. HEIGHT 6.7 cm, WIDTH 6.3 cm HEIGHT 2.6 cm (nakago-ana) THICKNESS 0.4 cm (seppa-dai) WEIGHT 128.1 g Provenance: Christie’s London, 9 November 2005, lot 219 (part lot). From the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York, acquired from the above. Alan Hartman (1930-2023) was an influential American art dealer, who took over his parents’ antique business in Manhattan and established the legendary Rare Art Gallery on Madison Avenue, with further locations in Dallas and Palm Beach. His wife Simone (née Horowitz) already served as assistant manager of the New York gallery before the couple were married in 1975, and together they built a renowned collection for over half a century and became noted art patrons, enriching the collections of important museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (which opened the Alan and Simone Hartman Galleries in 2013) as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York. Notably, they assembled an impressive collection of Japanese art, focusing on fine netsuke, inro, and lacquer. Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear. Iwamoto Konkan is listed in Robert E. Haynes, The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists, p. 716-717 (H 03464.0). He was a student and the adopted son of the first Ryokan (H 07595). Konkan was the fifth master of the Iwamoto family and founder of the larger Iwamoto school. Originally, he worked in the Yokoya school style and the Nara school style but later developed his own style. Kanko-dori, depicting a rooster perched atop a drum, is a symbol of peace and good government. The motif derives from an ancient Chinese legend in which a ruler placed a drum outside his palace for subjects to sound whenever they wished to voice grievances. As the drum remained unused under his benevolent rule, it eventually gathered moss and birds came to roost upon it.